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Accept Yourself As You Are

The people who stuck with the same thing for 40 years are in a different place than those of us who wandered around exploring a wide range of concepts. And I wondered if I had been wrong.

Don’t compare yourself with others from your past

I recently come across a group of people that I followed and learned from when I began my holistic professional career in the 1970’s. They have been developing their place of service for a long time and it’s both interesting and discouraging to see how far they have come.

But that’s not me

Before I began to beat myself up for not having as much to show for my life as they seemed to for theirs, my inner self hollered very loudly at me: “You don’t like to repeat things. You never have! You are an explorer and discoverer”. Now that doesn’t make me a good or a bad person, but it does make me an adventurer rather than a settler and that’s very helpful to know. We need both types in our world.

I don’t like to teach the same thing

I teach to learn. And once I learn something, I don’t want to repeat it. The fun and challenge and reward for me is in the creation of the system or exercises or material that moves both me and the student from here to there. But once we are “there” I don’t want to return; I want to keep exploring. Therefore, the trail I leave is a narrow one, not a well-traveled path.

But that’s OK.

I have actually been doing the same thing

There’s a pattern in your life — based on your passion and your gifts. I’ve been writing all my life, I’ve been exploring philosophically, and I’ve been seeing overviews and connections all my life. Those three things are what have nourished and inspired me and helped me grow into the person I am today. Just because it doesn’t look like you’ve been doing the same thing all your life, look closely and you’ll find a pattern.

Honor who you are

After moving to New York City years ago and finding all the budding holistic adventurers that lived there, my life totally changed. I jumped from one teaching to another, taking from it what resonated and making up my version that fitted my needs and passion. When you are taught something, it’s yours to shape. You keep some of it, you toss some of it, you modify some of it. And that’s perfect. Honor your unique way of learning and doing and appreciate your life.

Wherever you are is perfect

I am in the right place at the right time — for me. Just as you are. So we get to look around and see what we’ve created, decide what we want to keep and chuck the rest. Then we move forward.

The reason I’m back in touch with these pioneers from my past is that I’ve come in a circle and have met them further down the path. However, I still take only parts and pieces, the concepts that align with my current exploration and thinking.

So there is to be no jealousy, no regret. My life is good, just as theirs is. I, too, am in service. Perhaps not on such a grand scale as they are, but that wasn’t what I was supposed to do. I was supposed to do exactly what I have been doing and I needed to arrive exactly where I am now.

Just as you did.

Accept who you are at this point in in your life. Don’t compare yourself with others. Simply turn and look at the richness of your own life and deepen your own place of service.

You are who you need to be. You are where you are meant to be. Accept yourself as you are.